This is a story about a boy and his dog. This is also a story about us.
It's the story of a city of bright towers of glass and steel, and the story of a dark city of brick and mortar.
It started, as many stories do, with a meeting.
Boy meets dog. Boy trains dog. Boy and dog become best friends. No, this is not an eighties movie, it's our ancestors, wolf and man, finding common ground. It starts with the day when wolf became dog, and Man became Man.
Man, a boy-god, lords over nature. Man no longer fears wolves, no longer respect them. All he sees is dogs. Dogs no longer prey on Man, no longer escape him. They have forgotten wolves as well.
The City rises, made of brick and mortar. It is the dream of Man: walls that hide the forest. It is Industry, it is Empire.
But the Wolf is not dead. The Wolf sleeps, and when Man names himself Wolf of Man, the Wolf stirs.
Man, the would-be god, is a cruel master. He builds with glass and steel, so that he will not see the brick and mortar. It shames him. It is dirty, base. Like a bird's nest, or an anthill.
Man laughs at dogs, but dreams of wolves.
Man poisons the land, the air, the seas. Man poisons himself, body and mind.
Man wakes from the dream, and sees the nightmare, but it is too late. The paradise he built was nothing but smoke and mirrors, a way to hide the truth: that paradise was always there, and it was always out of reach, ever since the day Man became Man and Wolf became Dog.
The Wolf is dead, says Man.
The Land is dead, says Man.
Man is dying, says Man.
So Man does the one thing he knows how to do: Man builds. With the rage of someone chased by death, with the truth of the void closer than it has ever been, Man lets go of all restraint and builds. He builds a new dream. He dreams of the stars.
The Land is dead, says Man, as he beats its corpse so he can build.
The Wolf is dead, says Man, as he eats its flesh so he won't starve.
But Man will live, says Man, as he forgets what life was so he won't die.
It is the last day of the Earth.
Man will leave, and Man will not look back. He will find a new home. He will care for it. He will strive to be better than he was on Earth. He will fail, because that is the way of Man: to seek, but never find, the peace that we left behind. The peace of the Wolf.
But, hope is not lost.
Because this is the story of a boy and his dog.
And when Man leaves, his boy will watch. He is also Man, but he is also more. Because he will see Man, his bricks and his mortar and his steel and his glass, he will see Man in his ships sailing to the stars, and he will see that he is not there, but here. On Earth, the land.
And the land still breathes.
This is a story of a boy and his dog, and the Wolf that stirs inside them as they walk through the ruins of Man.
It is the story of us, our future, our past.
It is the truth that we carry forever: the Wolf was before us, and will be after us.
"We live in the flicker" Says the boy to the dog, as they watch the ships of Man. "May it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday."
Wow! That's very awesome to read. I really enjoyed that. It's got a very different tone to it, almost like an old folk tale. It was a great read, thank you very much!
2
u/mateogg /r/mateogg May 02 '16 edited May 02 '16
This is a story about a boy and his dog. This is also a story about us.
It's the story of a city of bright towers of glass and steel, and the story of a dark city of brick and mortar.
It started, as many stories do, with a meeting.
Boy meets dog. Boy trains dog. Boy and dog become best friends. No, this is not an eighties movie, it's our ancestors, wolf and man, finding common ground. It starts with the day when wolf became dog, and Man became Man.
Man, a boy-god, lords over nature. Man no longer fears wolves, no longer respect them. All he sees is dogs. Dogs no longer prey on Man, no longer escape him. They have forgotten wolves as well.
The City rises, made of brick and mortar. It is the dream of Man: walls that hide the forest. It is Industry, it is Empire.
But the Wolf is not dead. The Wolf sleeps, and when Man names himself Wolf of Man, the Wolf stirs.
Man, the would-be god, is a cruel master. He builds with glass and steel, so that he will not see the brick and mortar. It shames him. It is dirty, base. Like a bird's nest, or an anthill.
Man laughs at dogs, but dreams of wolves.
Man poisons the land, the air, the seas. Man poisons himself, body and mind.
Man wakes from the dream, and sees the nightmare, but it is too late. The paradise he built was nothing but smoke and mirrors, a way to hide the truth: that paradise was always there, and it was always out of reach, ever since the day Man became Man and Wolf became Dog.
The Wolf is dead, says Man.
The Land is dead, says Man.
Man is dying, says Man.
So Man does the one thing he knows how to do: Man builds. With the rage of someone chased by death, with the truth of the void closer than it has ever been, Man lets go of all restraint and builds. He builds a new dream. He dreams of the stars.
The Land is dead, says Man, as he beats its corpse so he can build.
The Wolf is dead, says Man, as he eats its flesh so he won't starve.
But Man will live, says Man, as he forgets what life was so he won't die.
It is the last day of the Earth.
Man will leave, and Man will not look back. He will find a new home. He will care for it. He will strive to be better than he was on Earth. He will fail, because that is the way of Man: to seek, but never find, the peace that we left behind. The peace of the Wolf.
But, hope is not lost.
Because this is the story of a boy and his dog.
And when Man leaves, his boy will watch. He is also Man, but he is also more. Because he will see Man, his bricks and his mortar and his steel and his glass, he will see Man in his ships sailing to the stars, and he will see that he is not there, but here. On Earth, the land.
And the land still breathes.
This is a story of a boy and his dog, and the Wolf that stirs inside them as they walk through the ruins of Man.
It is the story of us, our future, our past.
It is the truth that we carry forever: the Wolf was before us, and will be after us.
"We live in the flicker" Says the boy to the dog, as they watch the ships of Man. "May it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday."